'The sky's the limit'

Tuesday

Sep 21, 2010 at 4:00 AM

By LINDA HALL

Staff Writer

SMITHVILLE -- A female student enrolled in a construction-related program at the Wayne County Schools Career Center need look no farther than outside her classroom window to evaluate where her non-traditional career choice may take her.

A female roofer, painter, plumber, brick layer and heavy machine operator have been among the employees on the Career Center's renovation project in partnership with the Ohio School Facilities Commission, according to Sarah Shelton, also working on the project as an electrician's apprentice with Accurate Electric.

When Shelton found herself "in a lull" with her previous 20-year occupation as a mortgage banking professional, Shelton decided to take full-time training classes with Kaplan University to make a career switch, although, she said, "I had never worked on a construction site before."

Shelton, a Parma native, was at the top of her pay scale at that point, she said, but had been downsized for the sixth time.

She figured "10 years in (to her new career), I'll be going, mortgage what? I really wanted to get away from a stressful desk job," she said.

Perhaps it would have been an even greater stretch to encroach upon a traditional man's domain had she not been one of "four sturdy girls" her father employed to redo a farmhouse.

"We did a little electrical, plumbing and dry wall," she recalled.

As one of the few women in her trade, "I kind of feel special," she said, adding, "Nobody had to walk on eggshells around me."

Even though most of the men with whom she has worked "started with a career a different way than I did," she hasn't taken a whole lot of flack from co-workers.

On a couple of occasions in other jobs, she has been told she isn't fast enough, or asked, "Don't you know that?"

But overall, starting schooling for an entirely different way of life on her 40th birthday has been a positive experience. On the job for about a year, Shelton, who earned "nearly a perfect 4.0" in her Kaplan classes, has no regrets.

The only problem she could come up with is that at times construction site amenities are less than stellar from a female perspective.

Even so, "I'd like to see more (women) get into (this profession)," said Shelton, for whom one of the pluses in her second career is being able to "fix stuff around my house."

"Never be afraid; you're never too old," she advised.

Opportunities range across a broad spectrum.

Karen Skipworth-Little, a project administrator for the OSFC for the past two years, told Barb Houmard, student activities liaison at the Career Center, women who are on the construction side of projects may more easily move into management.

With their expertise, they are invaluable, she said.

"It's a tough job in a tough industry," Skipworth-Little told Houmard. "You have to have a thick skin."

"Young women feel like they have to prove themselves," she said. "Many overdo it." What really counts for them is "be(ing) very confident, hav(ing) a good education and know(ing) what you're talking about."

"Like anything else, you might not be suited for it," Shelton acknowledged.

Houmard affirmed there are a few female students "that just didn't make it (in traditionally male programs)."

But the women on the construction site at the Career Center are clear proof the sky is the limit.

"We did have women on the roof, pulling their weight all over the place," Houmard said.

In terms of being physically able to pull off a "man's" job, "These guys are a little surprised" at times, Shelton said, about what she is capable of doing, including lifting heavy objects.

It's possible "if you lift things right," she pointed out.

Reporter Linda Hall can be reached at 330-264-1125, Ext. 2230, or e-mail lhall@the-daily-record.com.

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